WEEK 2 ETHICS

Philosophy ● Greek: philosophia - ‘love of wisdom'

● study of general and fundamental questions (reason, existence,
knowledge, values, mind, & language)
● the study of knowledge / "thinking about thinking"

Reason ● The capacity of consciously making sense of things, applying logic, and
adapting or justifying practices, institutions, and beliefs based on new or
existing information.

Existence ● Ability of an entity to interact with physical or mental reality.

● In Philosophy - The ontological property of being.

Major Branches of Epistemology, Metaphysics, Logic, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of

Philosophy Language, Aesthetics, Ethics or Moral Philosophy,

a. Epistemology Studies questions about knowledge and rational belief.

b. Metaphysics Study of what the world is like—or what reality consists in.

c. Logic Study of the validity of patterns of inference

d. Political The philosophical study of concepts and values associated with political
Philosophy matters.

e. Philosophy of Devoted to the study of questions concerned with meaning and

Language communication.

f. Aesthetics Concerned with the nature and appreciation of art, beauty and good taste.

g. ETHICS or ● Ancient Greek (ethikos) - (ethos), meaning 'habit, custom‘ which also
Moral means "relating to one's character".
Philosophy ● Involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right
and wrong conduct

Major areas of study Meta-ethics, Normative ethics, Applied ethics,

within ethics

I. Meta-ethics ● The theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions, and how
their truth values (if any) can be determined.
● Asks how we understand, know about, and what we mean when we talk
about what is right and what is wrong

Meta-ethical question ● Abstract and relates to a wide range of more specific practical questions.
● "Is it ever possible to have a secure knowledge of what is right and
 wrong?"

Types of Meta-ethics Moral skepticism (or moral scepticism) & Moral realism (also ethical
realism)

a. Moral skepticism A class of metaethical theories - Members entail that no one has any moral
(or moral scepticism) knowledge.

Moral skepticism Moral error theory (or moral nihilism), Epistemological moral skepticism,
sub-classes: Non-cognitivism.

Moral error theory ● moral anti-realism.

(or moral nihilism) ● Anti-realist views hold that there are no mind-independent moral objects
or properties.

Error theory ● There are no moral features in this world;

● Nothing is right or wrong. Therefore, no moral judgments are true;
● Our sincere moral judgments try, but always fail, to describe the moral
features of things.

Epistemological moral ● Philosophical study of the nature, origin, and limits of human
skepticism knowledge.

Non-cognitivism ● not cognitive:

● a : not relating to or based on conscious intellectual activity,
noncognitive skills agitation, mood swings, and other non cognitive
symptoms.
● b : not based on or capable of being reduced to empirical factual
knowledge.

Moral realism (also View that there are facts of the matter about which actions are right and
ethical realism) which wrong, and about which things are good and which bad

II. Normative ● Study of ethical action.

ethics ● Investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one
ought to act, morally speaking

III. Applied ethics ● Attempts to apply ethical theory to real-life situations.

● Concerning what a person is obligated (or permitted) to do in a specific
situation or a particular domain of action.

Moral Standards vs. Non-Moral Standards

Morality Standards that a person or a group has about what is right and wrong, or
good and evil.
Moral standards ● Concerned with or relating to human behavior, especially the distinction
between good and bad (or right and wrong) behavior.
● Rules people have about the kinds of actions they believe are morally
right and wrong
● Values they place on the kinds of objects they believe are morally good
and morally bad.

Non-moral standards ● Rules that are unrelated to moral or ethical considerations.

● Not necessarily linked to morality or by nature lack ethical sense.
● EX. Rules of etiquette, fashion standards, rules in games, and various
house rules.

6 characteristics of 1. Moral standards involve serious wrongs or significant benefits.

moral standards 2. Moral standards ought to be preferred to other values.
3. Moral standards are not established by authority figures.
4. Moral standards have the trait of universalizability.
5. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations.
6. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and vocabulary.

WEEK 3 MAN AS A PERSONS

Socrates “To know oneself” True wisdom is knowing what you do not know

Filipino Beliefs 1. Man is a creature of God.

2. Man has an immortal soul.
3. Man as an assigned destiny in life.
4. Man must do good or else be punished by God.
5. Man by nature is good but is morally weak

Regarding morality, 1. Morality is "batas ng Diyos"

Filipinos believe that 2. A person should respect his humanity, "pagkatao"
3. A person should love and care for his family.
4. A person should strive to live peacefully with others.
5. A person should fear God and His punishment

Rational Animal Man is an organism composed of a material body and a spiritual soul. He is
the whole of his materiality and immateriality, the substantial union
(hylomorphic) of body and soul, matter, and spirit. This essential wholeness
is what we call human nature.

Human nature Made up of man's biological, psychological, and rational powers

Biological Powers Nutrition, locomotion, growth, and reproduction

Psychological powers ● Senses: smelling, tasting, seeing, hearing, perceiving, imagining, and
remembering
● Acts of emotions, such as love, hatred, desire, disgust, joy, sorrow, fear,
 despair, and courage.

Rational powers Intellect and the will - comprehension and volition, respectively.

Natural Law All human powers or faculties are operational tendencies towards what is
good to man as a rational animal

Man as Person ● Man is born as an individual, or person.

● Person is human nature actualized and manifested in the history of
place and time.

Personality ● The sum of those physical attributes and tendencies which define a
person’s distinctive behavior.
● Personality is the sum of a person's physical constitution, talents,
abilities, and habits which define characteristic behavior

Character ● Refers to the person's choice of values and his intelligent exercise of his
freedom
● Character is the will of the person directing him towards a recognized
ideal.
● Choose the right thing in any given circumstance

Social Dimension of Society is but an extension of the person. Ethics is particularly relevant
the Person because of man's social nature. The golden rule, for that matter, is to
be concerned about the other person